February, 2016

• 14 February

  Govts to bring labour markets to new digital economy century

  Dubai / Emirats Business Governments around the world are urged to harness digitisation and re-imagine labour markets to drive down unemployment, upskill the workforce, and grow their economies, according to a new report by The Economist Corporate Network, the business advisory arm of The Economist Intelligence Unit, launched recently at the World Government Summit. Leaders at the World Government Summit ...

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• 14 February

  BMW to connect artists and collectors

  

  Sunaina Rana / Emirates Business BMW Group is all set to expand their support to the contemporary art and culture in the Middle East with the launch of BMW Contemporary, an exclusive enterprise that would aims to strengthen intercultural dialogues and spark curiosity and imagination among the artists and the admirers. The new initiative, BMW Contemporary, will give a chance ...

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• 14 February

  Oil bosses upbeat on market rebound

  

  London / AFP Movers and shakers from the oil industry descended on London last week and expressed optimism over a sharp rebound in the beleaguered crude market later this year. Bob Dudley, chief executive of British energy major BP, forecast at the International Petroleum Week industry conference on Wednesday that “the daily (oil) supply and demand” will be balanced in ...

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• 14 February

  Crude price US$50-60 pb by mid-2017, says KPI chief

  

  London / WAM The global oil price will hopefully retain its normal average, reaching USD 50 to 60 per barrel by mid-2017, Kuwait Petroleum International (KPI) President, Bakheet Al-Rashidi said on Saturday. In an exclusive statement to KUNA on the sideline of the annual KPI’s international marketing London bureau celebration, Al-Rashidi said that the current status quo of the global ...

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• 14 February

  Restructuring managerial hierarchy key to staving off effects of lower oil revenues

  

  DUBAI / Emirates BUsiness Private and public sector organisations in the Middle East have been advised to simplify their hierarchical systems to stave off the effects of lower oil revenues and reduced demand. PA Consulting Group says those who have a clear understanding of the levels of organisational hierarchy needed can identify the most effective spans of management control and ...

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• 14 February

  Iran sends first oil shipment to Europe

  Bloomberg Iran shipped its first cargo of oil to Europe since international sanctions ended, signaling more supplies will add to the global glut of crude. The Suezmax vessel Distya Akula departed Iran’s loading terminal at Kharg Island in the Persian Gulf and was located Saturday in the Gulf of Oman off the east coast of the United Arab Emirates, according ...

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• 14 February

  BP expands scope of $16bn natural gas project in Oman

  Bloomberg BP Plc and state-owned Oman Oil Co. agreed to expand an exploration and production sharing agreement of the Khazzan natural gas field to include a second development phase, at an estimated cost of $16 billion for the entire project. Block 61 will add 1,000 square kilometers to the original 2,700 square kilometer area of development, BP said Sunday. The ...

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• 14 February

  Exploring new frontier of negative interest rates

  

  When central banks start exploring strange new worlds, the results aren’t always ideal. Quantitative easing wasn’t just a change in monetary policy, but a whole new kind of monetary policy — a journey into the unknown. It isn’t over yet, but there’s already a debate about drawbacks and unintended consequences. With that question far from resolved, another adventure in super-loose ...

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• 14 February

  Cyber militias in peacetime

  

  India’s premier security think tank, the Institute for Strategic and Defence Analysis (IDSA), just held its first major international conference on cyber security. Its focus on Asian and international perspectives has delivered distinctly Un-American perspectives on security in cyber space. The three-day meeting coincided with the release by President Obama on February 9 of a bold new initiative, the Cyber ...

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• 14 February

  In China, black goods down, white goods up

  Dwindling growth indicators for China have been reported extensively in the media in recent months, so much so that little space has been devoted to coverage of growth areas. It turns out that, even as railway transportation of so-called “black goods,” or steel and coal, has fallen, transport of “white goods” for household consumption is up. Indeed, consumption is on ...

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